You are here

Centenary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic

A very special tribute to reflect upon the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the British Cruise Liner RMS Titanic 31/03/1909 - 15/04/1912

"The ship of dreams"

Titanic's maiden Journey:

At noon on the 10 April 1912 the Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton (England) to New York (USA). There were 1320 passengers and 907 crew aboard.

The Titanic would first sail to Cherbourg (France) and later to Queenstown (Ireland - now Cobh) to pick up additional passengers before attempting to cross the Atlantic.

Titanics Fate:

It was 11.40 p.m. 14 April 1912. High up in his observation port, that cold night, Titanic's lookout Frederick Fleet gazed out across the glistening Atlantic sea searching for icebergs and sheet ice. Suddenly Fleet observed an iceberg heading straight for the ship. He urgently rang the bell three times and phoned the Bridge. He told them what he had seen. "Iceberg right ahead!"

At first it looked as if the ship had just missed the berg but there was a glancing blow and the Titanic started to take on water as the iceberg ripped into the hull.

At 12.15 a.m. Captain Smith gave the order to send out a wireless call for assistance.

The Cunard Lines RMS Carpathia captained by Arthur Henry Rostron was only 58 miles away. She picked up Titanic's distress signal and quickly replied she was on her way.

The Titanic's lights went out, came on again briefly but finally extinguished at 2.20 a.m. 15 April 1912. The tilt of the stern grew. The forward funnel toppled over with a mighty crash. A thousand passengers clung to objects on the stern for security. For a moment, the Titanic stood perpendicular in the water.

Suddenly she was gone. There was an eerie silence amongst the survivors in the lifeboats. They could not believe that the Titanic had sunk before their very eyes and that it had cost the lives of so many loved ones.

The Rescue:

Bravely and at great risk to itself due to severe weather conditions and ice, the RMS Carpathia races towards the foundering Titanic, but she would arrive too late.

At 3:30 a.m. The Carpathia's rockets are sighted by those in the lifeboats.

4:10 a.m. The Carpathia rescues the occupants of lifeboat number 2 and continues picking up survivors until 8:30 a.m.

9:25 a.m. Wednesday, 18 April, 1912. The Carpathia docks in New York with the survivors. The surviving crew members are detained for questioning.

RMS Carpathia

No one will ever know what went on in the hearts and minds of all those who were on the Titanic. Those who feared for their lives so much that they may have scrambled over and fought their way past many to board the lifeboats. Those who stood back so that others may live, even if it meant the loss of their own lives. Those who screamed in terror at knowing the icy and watery death that awaited them. Those who calmly and stoically met death and stared it in the face with resolve and courage.

May the hubris that brought forth her destruction never be forgotten, and may all who perished in her wake rest in peace.

Source: Other

Titanic's Specs:

Career

RMS Titanic

Name:

RMS Titanic

Owner:

White Star Line

Port of registry:

Liverpool, United Kingdom

Route:

Southampton to New York City

Ordered:

17 September 1908

Builder:

Harland and Wolff, Belfast

Yard number:

401

Laid down:

31 March 1909

Launched:

31 May 1911 (not christened)

Completed:

2 April 1912

Maiden voyage:

10 April 1912

Identification:

Radio call sign "MGY"

Fate:

Foundered on 15 April 1912 on her maiden voyage

General characteristics

Class and type:

Olympic-class ocean liner

Tonnage:

46,328 GRT

Displacement:

52,310 tons

Length:

882 ft 6 in (269.0 m)

Beam:

92 ft 0 in (28.0 m)

Height:

175 ft (53.3 m) (keel to top of funnels)

Draught:

34 ft 7 in (10.5 m)

Depth:

64 ft 6 in (19.7 m)

Decks:

9 (A–G)

Installed power:

24 double-ended and 5 single-ended boilers feeding two reciprocating steam engines for the wing propellers and a low-pressure turbine for the center propeller; output: 46,000 HP